The Department of Environmental Protection Thursday announced the Jeansville Mine Fire in Banks Township, Carbon County, is close to being fully extinguished.

DEP has determined that the fire has been contained in the affected area and does not appear to have spread beyond its original boundaries of 29 acres. 

The fire is being addressed through active mining operations and an isolation trench project.  Hazleton Shaft, Inc. is the contractor for the project, which began in 2015 and is overseen by DEP.

The isolation trench project is designed to separate the mine fire from the rest of the site and excavate material from the trench and douse that material with water. The isolation trench has been constructed near the southern end of the mine fire site and should be completed later this year. 

“The work plan has proved successful in getting rid of this dangerous public nuisance,” said John Stefanko, Deputy Secretary for Active and Abandoned Mining Operations. “With tremendous cooperation from the township and nearby residents, DEP has been able to carry out a work plan that has brought us closer to a fully extinguished fire and soon, reclaimed land for future use.”

Approximately 3 million cubic yards of material have been excavated and about 44 million gallons of water were used to quench hot material. Additionally, approximately one million cubic yards of material has been excavated within the active mining area for the mine fire abatement.

In the Spring of 2016, at the request of residents, DEP Air Quality Program monitored the air around the fire during the day and night. The monitoring showed no dangerous gases were present in the air.

After the mine fire is fully extinguished, a project to mitigate for the loss of bat habitat on the site will be initiated based on the guidance from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Click Here for DEP presentations on the mine fire.

For more information on mine reclamation, visit DEP’s Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation webpage.

NewsClips:

DEP: Jeansville Mine Fire On Track To Being Fully Extinguished In Coming Months

Op-Ed: Tap Fund For Coal Country Land, Water Restoration

PA Receives $55.6 Million From Feds For Abandoned Mine Reclamation

Frazier: Zinke Unveils $55 Million Toward State’s Abandoned Mine Cleanup

[Posted: March 8, 2018]

3/12/2018